All partner institutions have a wide experience in hosting foreign students. High level support and assistance will provide the best possible learning environment and accommodation arrangements. In particular, all partners have adapted building infrastructures for people with special needs. And support is provided to individuals with disabilities and any student who has a health problem that might affect his or her education.
In all the partner institutions, students will have access to all existing services such as libraries and university restaurants, and they will also be able to participate fully in campus life, take part in cultural and sports activities as well as all the various students associations.
A list of facilities is provided in the table below:
The consortium has recruited two persons who have the specific task of providing administrative support for the Masters EPOG programme, Rhyma Bensalem and Catherine Landy.
Catherine and Rhyma work together to ensure the general coordination of the consortium, to take care of all the administrative and pedagogical concerns of students, but also of their well-being. They are also in charge of the communication tools of the project.
They have bilingual skills in French and English and are based at University of Paris 13.They are responsible for all administrative and academic requirements relating to the hosting and monitoring of students and of guest lecturers. Prior to the arrival of the students, the administrative coordinators reply by email and telephone to any questions from students relating to their period of residence and the organisation of the EPOG Master. In addition, they are responsible for providing consulates with the documents needed for visas for students from outside Europe (and anticipate the procedures needed to host students in due time).
In addition, all students will be registered with the Université of Paris 13 or Paris 7 throughout the period of the Master’s and will be automatically registered in the university in which he/she spends the first year. They will have the benefit of French social security cover for students, which apply to all countries in the European Union by means of the European health card. Numerous bilateral agreements make the advantages of the French social security system available to European countries and countries outside of Europe.
In addition, within each host institution, a pedagogical secretary is appointed to coordinate all services in that institution that are involved in the hosting of students for the EPOG Masters. After students have been welcomed in the partner institutions, the contact persons will liaise with the appropriate services and supervise the allocation of accommodation. In the partners’ countries where rooms are not guaranteed for all students, staff will help to find suitable, safe and affordable room. They will also assist students with administrative procedures needed to obtain visas and residence permits, as well as all other necessary steps for settling students in the country hosting them. The contact persons will be an intermediary between the students and the various university services (international relations, student welfare etc.) as well as external institutions (banks, insurance companies, regional administrative and police services etc.). They will be able to provide the students with information about all practical aspects of daily life (transport, external medical care etc.)
Induction programme
The induction programme starts before arrival so that students arrive “ready to study” and to ensure general well-being and confidence. It relies on:
- The information booklet. It will be sent to students as soon as they are formally accepted in the programme.
- The ability of each pedagogical secretary (i) to respond by email and telephone to students/scholars questions relating to their period and help them with paperwork, local administration, accommodation, etc.
- The assignation of an academic tutor, a referring student and/or a “buddy” to help students to integrate into the new environment, get feedback on the programme and make choices related to the course and possible careers.
